The subject matter herein relates generally to header connectors that are configured to mount to panels.
Some header connectors are designed to mount to a panel to provide an electrical and/or optical connection across the panel. For example, the panel may be a wall of an electrical device. The panel-mountable header connector is configured to extend at least partially through an opening in the panel and is secured to the panel. The panel-mountable header connectors are typically designed to accommodate only one panel thickness or a very narrow range of panel thicknesses. Typically, the opening in the panel may be cut to fit various sizes of connectors. However, it is much more difficult and expensive to alter a thickness of the panel to attain a thickness that a desired header connector is designed to accommodate. Generally, to accommodate various panel thicknesses, a specific header connector is chosen from multiple different header connectors having the same mating interface, where each of the connectors is designed to accommodate a different thickness of panel. A need remains for a panel-mountable header connector that is configured to accommodate a broader range of panel thicknesses to avoid the need to determine which of multiple header connectors properly couples to a given panel.
In addition, due to the trend of increasing signal density (or amount of electrical and/or optical connections per area) in electrical and/or optical systems, a need remains for reducing the surface area or footprint of the header connector on the panel in order to increase the number of panel-mount header connectors that may be installed in a given area of a panel.